Liz Therapy

Menu

Postnatal Anxiety and Postnatal Depression

Counselling & Psychotherapy for Postnatal Anxiety & Depression

Counselling / Psychotherapy for Postnatal Depression in Surrey

Personally as a mother and professionally as a midwife, health visitor and therapist, I don’t believe anything can prepare you for the transition of having your first baby. It can be really difficult, as is having your second or your third. The physical and emotional demands can feel overwhelming and relentless. You can lose a sense of yourself; your identity and your needs, for your limited time becomes wholly focused on your baby, your children and family’s needs. Such overwhelm can fuel the stirrings of postnatal depression.

Almost 85% of women experience the ‘Baby Blues’ after birth with symptoms of feeling weepy, tired, anxious and moody. This normally lasts from a few days to two weeks and is often connected to the shock and hormonal changes related to giving birth. If such symptoms last longer or begin later, you could be suffering with postnatal depression, which affects 1 in every 10 women within the first year of giving birth. It can also develop gradually and so you would not necessarily be fully aware of your suffering.

What is Postnatal Depression (PND)?

Postnatal Depression is different for every mother, however common symptoms of Postnatal Depression are:

  • Persistent feelings of sadness or low mood
  • Lack of enjoyment and loss of interest in the wider world
  • Lack of energy and constant tiredness and exhaustion
  • Trouble sleeping at night and feeling sleepy during the day
  • Finding it difficult to care for yourself and the baby
  • Feeling detached / a sense of numbness
  • Finding yourself withdrawing from contact with others /your partner or feeling unable to bond with or connect with your baby
  • Having difficulty concentrating and making decisions
  • Frightening thoughts – for example, about hurting your baby
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms
  • Suffering anxiety and / or experiencing panic attacks
  • Feeling tearful / bursting into tears frequently and seemingly for no reason
  • Being overwhelmed by life at the moment
  • Feelings of anger and rage
  • A sense of hopelessness
  • Having no desire to eat
  • Having suicidal thoughts or making plans to kill yourself

There are a range of symptoms associated with PND, and each individual’s experience is unique. What is incredibly important is to receive help as soon as possible, as your symptoms could become progressively worse and have a negative impact on you and your baby and your family.

Getting Help for Postnatal Depression:

As a result of experiencing postnatal depression, you can then feel:

  • Ashamed
  • Feel like you are a ‘bad mother’
  • Feel like you are a failure
  • That you are unable to cope
  • Experience enormous feelings of guilt

This then leads to feelings of isolation, as you feel unable to share with anyone your true feelings, therefore exacerbating your feelings of guilt, anxiety and shame.

Postnatal depression is an illness, and it is important that you are not suffering alone. Speaking to friends and family can help, and your GP can give you guidance regarding the right support for you.

Counselling & Psychotherapy for Postnatal Depression:

Psychological therapy will enable you to understand your postnatal depression. It will provide a safe and confidential space away from your loved ones, to explore what you have been feeling and experiencing. Furthermore, you will be provided with coping strategies and ways to looks after yourself through this experience.

The psychological approach will be tailored to your unique needs, in order to sensitively manage your symptoms appropriately.This will incorporate Integrative psychotherapy, Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which is recommended by the NICE guidelines and the NHS.

The biggest step is acknowledging that you are struggling and require support. Reach out and arrange an initial 15-20 minutes consultation, to explore your difficulties. We can collaboratively work together to enable you to feel supported and psychologically better, so that you are able to experience this very special time with a feeling of joy.